On Friday the Washington Redskins announced they would be placing runningback/return man Chris Thompson on injured reserve. The Thompson move left an open roster spot on the Redskins 53-man roster.
Instead of signing someone off the street from the free-agent pool, Coach Shanahan and the Redskins will promote wide receiver Nick Williams from the practice squad to the active 53-man roster according to sources.
Redskins promoting WR/KR Nick Williams from practice squad to replace Chris Thompson on the 53 man roster, source says.
— Mike Jones (@MikeJonesWaPo) November 12, 2013
The 5-9, 184-pound Williams was a kick and punt return specialist while at the University of Connecticut and went undrafted in June’s NFL draft but was one of the many undrafted players the Redskins brought in this past spring. Williams could give the Redskins a spark on the special teams, the team currently ranks 29th in punt returns and 31st in kickoff return yards. He left Connecticut with a school record 2,045 kickoff return yards and also tied for the school record with four punt return touchdowns.
Below is a video of Nick Williams returning a punt for a touchdown against Maryland.
